


Stuck With You (So Let's Make the Most of It)

by thesestarryskies



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Clarke Griffin, CEO Lexa (The 100), Eventual Smut, F/F, Strangers to Lovers, gratuitous massages, inspired by clexaweek even though i'm late, one bed trope, stranded because of a hurricane, three-shot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-07 16:14:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17963855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesestarryskies/pseuds/thesestarryskies
Summary: Clarke is not having a good week. After a last-ditch effort to save her crumbling relationship only to find out he'd been cheating on her for some time, she finds herself stranded in a strange city when a powerful hurricane grounds all flights. Soaking wet from rain and with no rooms available at any hotel, she's on the verge of a breakdown when a complete stranger comes to her rescue.Lexa has been in this situation before--stuck in the city when a bad storm cancels her flight. It's not her first rodeo, and she's more than prepared to ride out the storm alone in her hotel room. But when she overhears the distress in the blonde's voice, she finds herself offering to share her room with a complete stranger.ORThe one where they're both stranded when a massive storm hits the coastal city and they agree to share the last available hotel room.And there's only one bed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! I am not new to writing fanfiction, but it has been a few years. This is my first foray into the Clexa writing word, however, and I hope I manage to do them justice. Thank you in advance for reading! :)

Clarke was completely and utterly drained. And wet. But not the good kind of wet. The kind of wet that makes your clothes stick to your skin and chilled you to the bone. The kind of wet that makes you shiver and want nothing more than a hot shower to feel human again.

 

She nearly moaned at the thought of a hot shower. And a decent meal. She barely managed to hold the noise back, which was a good thing considering that she was in the middle of the lobby of a hotel surrounded by others wanting to get a last minute room for the night.

 

The hurricane of the year had made landfall a full day earlier than predicted, throwing a wrench into thousands of planned flights on the East Coast. Clarke had been set to fly out of Polis and back to her home in Arkadia when the sudden onset of Hurricane Nia, a category four storm, had changed everything. She’d traveled to Florida for what was supposed to have been a romantic surprise for her boyfriend, but the surprise had been on her when she’d shown up at his door unannounced. Her last-minute return flight from Miami to Arkadia that was set to depart not even twelve hours after she’d landed just had to have a five hour layover in Polis, which was in the direct path of Nia. She’d tried to get an earlier flight when it became apparent that her scheduled flight out of Polis would likely be cancelled, but had no such luck. Apparently she hadn’t been the only one with that idea and there had been absolutely no available seat on any flight.

 

It was too late to rent a car and drive; there was no way she’d out-drive the storm. So now, her only options were to either sleep in the airport until she could get a new flight or stay in a hotel.

 

She’d opted for a hotel.

 

She definitely wasn’t alone in that thought process, however. Polis itself wasn’t a bustling city, but it was a popular airport for layovers because of its centrality to a lot of the large cities on the East Coast. Being a smaller city outside of the airport, there weren’t that many hotels to choose from. Four. There were four hotels that didn’t offer hourly rates.

 

And this hotel was Clarke’s fourth attempt at booking a room, the first three already full due to the number of cancelled flights. It was the farthest hotel from the airport, but still within walking distance (hence the drowned rat appearance), but it was also the nicest. It would definitely put another dent in her credit card, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

She wasn’t a praying woman, but she prayed this hotel had a vacancy.

 

_God, I hope they have a room available._

 

“You and me both,” a voice interrupted her.

 

Clarke looked up in surprise. “Huh?”

 

The woman in line in front of her was looking at her with expressive green eyes. “A room,” she clarified. “I said I also hope they have something.”

 

“Oh,” Clarke said, shaking her head to clear it. “I didn’t even realize I’d said that aloud.” She sighed and rubbed a hand over her face.

 

The woman gave her an amused smirk and stepped forward as the line moved. Clarke focused on the woman’s face and felt her stomach flutter. Damn, she was gorgeous. And dry. What Clarke wouldn’t give to be dry…

 

“Rough day?” the woman asked, eyeing her carefully, likely taking in her drowned rat appearance and overall exhausted demeanor.

 

“Something like that,” Clarke muttered.

 

The woman nodded carefully, then stepped up to the front desk as the person in front of her stepped aside. Clarke looked on with envy as the guy behind the desk nodded, took the woman’s credit card, then slid it along with a room key back across the desk.

 

The woman thanked the guy behind the desk before she stepped to the side, tossing Clarke a look. “Good luck,” she said before moving off to the elevators. Clarke rushed forward before anyone else could cut in front of her.

 

“Please tell me you have a room available,” Clarke practically begged.

 

The young man--Jasper, his employee ID said--nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I believe we have one room left. It’s a suite, though.”

 

Clarke let out a relieved breath. “I don’t care how much it is. I’ll take it.” She fished out her wallet from her purse and slapped her credit card on the high countertop in front of her.

 

Jasper typed furiously and she watched as his eyes widened. “Oh,” he said, making a sound of regret.

 

“What is it?” Clarke asked, anxiety balling in the pit of her stomach.

 

Jasper gave her an apologetic look. “I’m afraid someone just snatched the last room via our website,” he said. “It’s now showing as reserved.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Clarke groaned out, on the verge of tears. It had been a really shitty last couple of days. “I tried the website, but it wouldn’t load on my phone.”

 

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” Jasper said. “I can see if our sister hotels in the city have any available rooms.”

 

Clarke let out a sigh. “I’ve tried all the others,” she said. “They’re all booked. You really have nothing? I’ll take literally anything at this point. As long as it has a shower. I don’t care how much it costs.”

 

Jasper shook his head. “I’m afraid we don’t,” he said.

 

Clarke wanted to lash out, but she knew it wasn’t his fault. Her eyes burned as she snatched her credit card from the countertop and she muttered something unintelligible and walked towards the gathering of couches across the lobby. She pulled out her phone and immediately dialed the person at the top of her favorites list.

 

“They don’t have anything, either,” Clarke said as soon as Octavia answered on the first ring. “This has been the most fucked up experience and I just want to go home.” Now she was crying freely. She turned so no one arguing with Jasper at the front desk could see her breakdown.

 

“Oh, sweetie,” Octavia sighed out, worried. “What are you going to do now?”

 

Clarke sniffled. “I guess go back to the airport and sleep at the terminal,” she said, voice thick with emotion. “But I’m already soaked and freezing, and the airport is a few miles away. I don’t think I can make it back on foot and there are no Ubers running. And I still won’t get a shower.”

 

“Shit,” Octavia said. “Well, I say don’t leave. Just sleep in the lobby. They can’t kick you out into the storm, can they?”

 

Clarke eyes the couch. It didn’t look particularly comfortable. Or clean. “I don’t know, O,” she said, sounding as miserable as she felt. “That doesn’t solve my problem of needing a shower and dry clothes. Not to mention food.” Her stomach grumbled then.

 

“Excuse me?” a voice suddenly interrupted her.

 

Clarke jumped slightly and turned to face the owner of the voice. The woman from before, the gorgeous one who had been in front of her at the registration desk, was looking at her carefully.

 

“Uh, O, I’ll have to call you back,” she said into her phone before hanging up. She quickly wiped away her tears and sniffled. “Can I help you?” she asked, her defences already rising.

 

The woman looked pensive. “I, ah, couldn’t help but overhear,” she said. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I did hear.”

 

“Okay?” Clarke said wearily.

 

“I was just going to say that you can stay in my room,” the woman said. “I kind of took it from you after you were generous to me, after all.”

 

Clarke knit her eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

 

“You held the door open for me,” the woman said. “If you hadn’t, you’d have gotten the room and I’d be out in the cold.”

 

Oh. Clarke didn’t even remember doing that. “So, your repayment for me holding open the door for you is letting me stay in your room?”

 

“Sharing a room,” the woman corrected. “I fully expect you to pay for half.” She offered a small smile to show that she was teasing. “I just heard your conversation, by accident, and couldn’t let you stay out here and get sick when I have a room with two queen beds by myself.”

 

“How do you know I’m not some murderer?” Clarke countered.

 

The woman shrugged. “I guess I don’t,” she said. “But I’m willing to risk it.” She held up the second of the two keycards that she’d been given. “From where I stand, you don’t have many options. You can come up to room 417 and take a hot shower and get into some dry clothing, eat some food, and sleep, or you can venture back out into the storm because I can guarantee they won’t let you couch surf in the lobby. So, what’s it going to be?”

 

Clarke narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to message my best friend and mother a picture of your ID so that if you kill me and hide my body, the police will know exactly who to go after.”

 

The woman tilted her head to the side and grinned. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” She turned and headed towards the elevator, glancing back to make sure Clarke was following her.

 

Clarke sighed, knowing she didn’t have much choice. Not if she wanted to avoid getting sick or going insane. She gripped the handle of her suitcase and stepped forward as the elevator arrived. She followed the woman into the box. “So, rommie, what’s your name?”

 

The woman faced her and leaned back against the wall of the elevator as the doors slid closed. “My fake ID says it’s Alexandria, but you can just call me Lexa.”

  
  
  


Clarke actually _did_ moan when she finally got that shower. The hot water sluiced down her still-cold torso, washing away the grime of the day. Stuck in Polis and sharing a hotel room with a complete stranger--even a hot one--while a massive hurricane raged outside had definitely _not_ been in her plans, but at least she now had a hot shower and she wasn’t stuck sleeping in an airport terminal.

 

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, warm, clean, and dressed in blissfully dry clothing, she found the woman, Lexa, sitting on the end of the bed and typing a message on her phone.

 

Clarke looked around the room and became confused. She’d been so focused on getting that shower earlier that she hadn’t even noticed anything about the room other than that it was warm. “Wait, didn’t you say there were two beds?” There was only one bed, though it appeared to be a king sized instead of a queen.

 

Lexa looked up from her phone, glasses that she hadn’t been wearing before perched on her nose. She sighed. “Yeah, that’s what the guy at the desk said,” she said. She reached for the confirmation paper and handed it to Clarke. “It even says two queen on here. I guess it’s wrong in their system.”

 

Clarke looked over the paper and saw that Lexa was right. “Well, that’s… inconvenient.”

 

Lexa nodded. “The couch is a pull out, though,” she said, indicating the small blue couch across the room. “I don’t mind sleeping on that.”

 

Clarke shrugged. “I’m not picky,” she said. “You saved me, so I’ll take the couch.”  

 

Lexa looked up at her. “Are you sure? You seem to be having a bad day and in dire need of a good night’s sleep.”

 

Clarke laughed bitterly. “You could say that,” she said, plopping down on the couch. “I’ll be fine. And I’ll see if they have an ATM in the morning to pay you back for half of the room fee.” She’d seen the price of the room on the confirmation page.

 

“Clarke, I was kidding about that. Don’t worry about it.”

 

Clarke shook her head. “No, really, I can pay you.”

 

Lexa shook her head firmly. “It’s fine. My company is paying for it, anyway. I was here on business.”

 

Clarke finally agreed. “As long as you aren’t personally paying for it,” she said.

 

“I’m not,” Lexa said.

 

Clarke nodded in agreement. “Okay.” She leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes. Next to her, her phone buzzed. She figured it was either Octavia or her mother answering her earlier texts explaining where she was. But when she looked at the screen, she made a noise of disgust.

 

“Problem?” Lexa asked as she rooted through her bag in search of clean clothes to change into after she took her own shower.

 

Clarke heaved a sigh as she deleted the newest message. “Just relationship issues,” she said. Then she rolled her eyes. “Ex-relationship issues, actually.”

 

Lexa looked at her understandingly. “Ah,” she said. “Always fun.”

 

Clarke snorted. “Sure, fun,” she muttered.

 

“Right, well, I’m going to shower now,” Lexa said. “Are you hungry?”

 

Clarke winced at her empty stomach. “Starving,” she said honestly.

 

Lexa nodded. “They have room service here,” she said. She picked up a pamphlet from the night stand. “Here’s a menu. Feel free to order anything you like; I have an unlimited food allowance.” She handed Clarke the menu.

 

Clarke nodded, perusing the item list. “Thanks,” she said. “Do you want me to order you anything?”

 

“I’ll have a roast turkey wrap with the fresh fruit side and a bottle of water,” Lexa said as she picked up her clothes.

 

Clarke noticed that she didn’t even have to look at the menu. She must stay here a lot. Clarke just nodded and watched as Lexa retreated into the bathroom and wondered what her story was. Then her stomach let out a loud growl and she momentarily forgot about the woman currently in the bathroom to look over the menu. She quickly found something that sounded appealing and called down their order, thankful that the kitchen still seemed to be operating despite the storm. She hoped the hotel staff all had a safe place to stay within the hotel during the storm.

 

At least they were fast. The food arrived just as Lexa exited the bathroom, drying her hair with a hotel towel. They set up at the small table near the window to eat as they watched the storm rage outside. The sun wasn’t due to set for another half hour, but it was already dark out from the clouds and heavy rain. The wind howled, wreaking havoc outside the dual-pane windows.

 

“So, what company do you work for?” Clarke asked after a few moments of silence, curious.

 

Lexa swallowed her bite of her turkey wrap and dabbed her mouth with the linen napkin. “Trikru International,” she said. “I do a lot of account management.”

 

Clarke raised an eyebrow. “Impressive,” she said. “They’re financial advising, right?”

 

Lexa nodded. “Yes, we deal with things like retirement pensions, stock portfolios, and offshore investments.”

 

Clarke made a face. “Gross,” she said.

 

“I know it’s not for everyone, but I’ve always had a penchant for numbers and organizational skills,” Lexa said.

 

“You were a total nerd in high school, weren’t you?” Clarke flashed Lexa a grin.

 

Lexa shrugged. “Maybe,” she said. “Let me guess; you were a popular cheerleader with hundreds of friends?”

 

Clarke snorted. “Hardly,” she said. “I had a lot of friends, but I wasn’t a cheerleader. I’m not coordinated enough for that. I was an art and band geek.”

 

“I’m not sure I’d ever consider you a geek,” Lexa said slowly.

 

Clarke chewed carefully on her bite of pasta. “Well, you don’t really know me, though.”

 

Lexa shrugged. “Fair enough,” she said. “Call it gut instinct. What do you do for work?”

 

“I’m an artist,” Clarke answered. “I wasn’t kidding about being an art geek. I was that student who always doodled in class when I was supposed to be taking notes. I still managed to get into a good college, though.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to let Lexa know that she wasn’t a complete slacker in high school.

 

“What kind of art?” Lexa asked, curious about the woman in front of her.

 

“Mostly commissions,” Clarke said. “Acrylics and watercolors are the most common requests. Honestly, my main source of income is graphic design. I do that freelance to pay the majority of my bills while I’m still getting my name out there. The dream is to be able to support myself on just my commissions, but that may take a while.”

 

“Competitive field?” Lexa guessed.

 

“Very,” Clarke said. “And it’s so subjective.” She finished off her pasta and pushed her plate away from her. “I enjoy graphic design enough that I don’t mind doing it to make ends meet, but I’d like to one day be able to focus all of my energy on my art.”

 

Lexa looked thoughtful. “Well, I know Trikru has been looking into a new branding. If you’re interested, I can put your name into the mix and if you prove to be a qualified candidate, it’ll be a huge contract with a large payoff upon completion. Probably enough to live off of for a few years while you focus on your art.”

 

Clarke nearly choked on… air. She nearly choked on freaking _air_. “You really don’t have to do that,” she said. “I mean, Trikru is way bigger than any account I’ve ever worked on. Particularly as a lead designer. I’m sure there are way more qualified people out there. You’ve never even seen my stuff.”

 

Lexa laughed. “I didn’t say you’d get the job, Clarke,” she said. “I said I could throw your name into the mix and _if_ they find you qualified, it could work out for you in the long run. You miss one-hundred percent of the shots that you don’t take.”

 

Clarke narrowed her eyes. “Did you just quote a hockey player?”

 

Lexa shrugged. “He’s right.”

 

Clarke rolled her eyes. “I’ll manage,” she said. She pushed her chair back and stood. She leaned over the table to pull back the curtain and look outside. “It’s getting really bad,” she said, noting the flooded streets and intense wind. “We don’t get them this bad in Arkadia. We’re too far inland.” She looked at Lexa and chewed on her lower lip. “What are the chances that I’ll get a flight out tomorrow?”

 

Lexa decided to be honest. “Pretty unlikely,” she said. “Probably closer to impossible. Not with this much damage and we’re only a few hours into the storm. I’ll be surprised if we don’t lose power at some point.”

 

“Really?” Clarke asked, beginning to panic.

 

Lexa shrugged. “It happens,” she said. She noted Clarke’s impending distress and thought about how to calm her down. “It’ll be fine. We’re safer in the hotel than most places. The windows are meant to withstand category five hurricane winds and we’re on a high floor. I’m pretty sure they have a backup generator for if the power goes out for emergency lighting. You just may be stuck here for a few days is all.”

 

Clarke groaned. “No offense to you because you’ve been so kind, but I just want to be home in my own bed,” she said as she fell back into her chair. “I’ve had a really bad last couple of days.”

 

“Want to talk about it?” Lexa asked. “I mean, I know we don’t know each other and all, but sometimes talking helps, even with a stranger.”

 

Clarke sighed. “Not really,” she said. “It’s a long story, and I’m exhausted.”

 

Lexa nodded in understanding. “Okay, why don’t we just find a movie or something to watch? No talking necessary?”

 

Clarke nodded. “Okay.” They settled on watching reruns of _The Walking Dead_ as they settled on the bed, tons of space between them. Clarke barely made it ten minutes into the episode before she passed out, the stress of the last several days finally taking its toll.

  
  


Lexa looked over in surprise as she heard a soft snore. Clarke was fast asleep as she curled up on her side, blanket pulled up around her shoulders. It was barely half past eight, but Lexa figured she must really be tired and in need of the sleep. She let her sleep as she rattled off emails to her partners and a few clients, her eyes wandering over to the sleeping blonde every so often as she wondered what her story was. She wasn’t a nosy person, and she usually had no interest in complete strangers’ lives, but something about Clarke captivated her. It was more than that she was a beautiful woman, though. Lexa couldn’t explain it if she tried, but she found herself curious about her, curious about the obvious emotional pain she was experiencing and wishing she could help soothe it away.

 

Lexa shook her head and returned to her emails. _No more staring at a sleeping girl like a friggen psycho_ , she said to herself.

 

She only made it to ten past nine before her own eyes were drooping after her long day of meetings followed by the stress of finding a hotel room in this mess. She decided to make it an early night and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she came out of the small room, she found the Clarke had further tangled herself in the covers and rolled onto her stomach towards the center of the bed.

 

She decided not to disturb her.

 

Rather, she made her way over to the pullout couch and attempted to set it up, but the mechanism must have been faulty because she could not, for the life of her, pull the mattress out. She sighed and gave up, mostly because she didn’t want to wake Clarke up by making so much noise. She put the cushions back and eyed the surface wearily. It wasn’t a full sized couch by any means. More like a loveseat.

 

Lexa sighed and grabbed the extra blanket and pillow she’d taken from the cabinet. She spread it over the couch and cocooned herself in the scratchy fabric as she bent awkwardly to fit as she laid down. Not exactly comfortable, but she didn’t have the heart to wake the blonde who was still snoring away on the bed.

 

She’d make do.

 

Unsurprisingly, she didn’t actually fall asleep right away, even as tired as she was. But it wasn’t completely due to the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Her mind kept going over the events of that evening, and she was really confused how she’d ended up here. She wasn’t a mean-spirited or insensitive person by any means. Anya even accused her of being overly empathetic at times. But she _was_ a very cautious person. And inviting a complete stranger to share her hotel room was definitely _not_ a cautious move. Actually, it was a very risky move.

 

And Lexa was not a risk-taker. Not in her personal life, at least. When it came to business? Absolutely. But that was different. That was game theory. No risk, no reward. But personally? Personally, she wasn’t a risk-taker.

 

But something about the crying, drenched blonde had really gotten to her. Something had compelled her to reach out and offer her shelter. Maybe it was the fact that she’d looked like a drowned rat and attempting to hide her tears as she spoke into her phone, or maybe it was that Lexa could hear the sincere despair in her voice. Or maybe it was just _Clarke_.

 

Whatever it was, she’d asked her to share her hotel room.

 

And now she was questioning her sanity and unable to sleep as the wind continued to howl outside the hotel. She hadn’t been putting up a brave front earlier. This hotel was probably one of the safest places in the city they could be to ride out the storm. But they’d also likely be stuck together in this tiny room for at least the next two days. Maybe more depending on when the airport resumed normal operation. And then it would be a matter of Clarke actually _getting_ a new flight.

 

Lexa bit her lower lip as she considered yet another risky move. Being co-founder of Trikru came with a lot of perks, chartered flights being one of them. Lexa didn’t have to worry about booking a new flight once the storm passed. She just had to call the charter company and say, ‘Let’s go.’

 

She knew the blonde lived in Arkadia from their earlier conversations. She’d probably have to fly into D.C. anyway, which was the closest large airport to the smaller city.

 

Lexa sighed and turned over on the couch, trying in vain to get comfortable. No. She had to stop her train of thought. There was no way Clarke would agree to a charter flight ticket. She’d also probably have to come completely clean about her true role in the company, and that was something she wasn’t ready to do. In her experience, it was better for people outside of the business world to not know of her position and, subsequently, her wealth.

 

Honestly, the whole being wealthy thing made her uncomfortable. It wasn’t something she was used to yet, even after so many years of financial stability. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be used to it, honestly. She’d grown up poorer than dirt. Her mother had raised her and her younger brother, Aden, on her own as she worked two full time jobs to keep a roof over their heads. At times, that wasn’t even the result of her mother’s hard work. There had sometimes been weeks or even months where they’d been homeless, sleeping on family friends’ floors or in the beat up old station wagon. At one point, when Lexa was about ten years old, they’d lived in a shelter for homeless women and children.

 

Her clothing, what little she’d owned, had always been purchased sparingly at the Goodwill or other secondhand shops. She got an after school job the day she’d turned fifteen and could legally work in order to help with the bills.

 

All the while, her mother had been her biggest cheerleader, pushing her to work hard in school and maintain top grades. And thank god she had. Those grades got her a full ride to her dream college. And that scholarship had given her the education that put her where she was today.

 

Today, her mother and Aden, who was now a senior in high school, lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood and each drove a nice car. Today, her mother was working only one job as she went to night school to make her own dreams come true. She’d always wanted to be a nurse. And Lexa could help make that dream come true.

 

It wasn’t that Lexa thought that Clarke would try and use her somehow for financial gain. She already had a gut feeling that Clarke was above that kind of thing. But she also didn’t know the blonde well enough to _really_ come to that conclusion. And, again, she wasn’t a risk taker when it came to her personal life.

 

There was a reason it had been nearly a year since she’d had sex.

 

With that reminder, Lexa nearly groaned aloud. She’d been so wrapped up in the business in the last several years as it really took off that she hadn’t had time to devote to an actual relationship. And casual sex wasn’t really her thing. Not that she’d never hooked up with anyone without a commitment, but that had burned her one too many times. She winced as she thought about the last woman she’d had a casual, no-strings thing with. It had been just sex. Good sex, too. But she hadn’t felt anything more than that. And she’d _told_ Ontari that from the very beginning. She’d been completely honest that she didn’t have time for a relationship and that she didn’t want anything more than sex. Ontari had agreed. At first. Then she became a little too possessive and demanding.

 

The final straw had been when she’d shown up unannounced and accused Lexa of _cheating_ on her. First of all, she hadn’t been sleeping with anyone other than Ontari. Second of all, they hadn’t actually been _together_ so how could she have been be cheating? She’d asked Ontari that same question and the other woman had gone crazy. Literally. Lexa had had to call her apartment building’s security officer to escort Ontari out of the building.

 

Thank god she hadn’t heard from the woman since that night. But that had been nearly a year ago, and she’d steered clear of any personal relationship other than her platonic friendship with Anya. Though, even that was mostly business these days.

 

God, she needed to get laid.

 

What she actually, secretly, wanted was a real relationship. Someone to go home to every night. Her apartment, nice but understated given her wealth (again, uncomfortable), was lonely. She still wasn’t used to living alone. And she missed having someone to talk to and confide in and _love_.

 

And she missed sex. Like, _really_ missed it.

 

Okay, she had to stop thinking about sex. She was getting hot and bothered and she was not in a position to ‘take care of it’. Not with the sexy blonde asleep just feet away.

 

Lexa nearly groaned aloud at her mistake. Dammit. She’d tried so hard to not think of her temporary roommate in that way. Obviously, she was gorgeous with her blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes and her curvy yet trim build. But Lexa had been determined to not think about her like _that_ in fear of exactly this. This right here. She was sexually frustrated and getting turned on. And the star of the show? Clarke Griffin.  


Perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the feedback, kudos, and bookmarks on the first chapter! I'm still finding my footing writing Clexa, and I hope I manage to do so quickly. :)

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

 

Lexa blinked, momentarily confused as her brain struggled to wake up. “What?”

 

Clarke sat on the side of the bed, hair mused and her eyes red from sleep. She stifled a yawn before clarifying. “The bed. You were supposed to take the bed and I would take the couch. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She gave a sheepish grin.

 

Oh. Right. The couch. Ow. Lexa pushed herself into a seated position and winced as her body protested from being in such an awkward position all night. “You looked so peaceful and I know you’ve had a rough go of it,” she said with a shrug. Ow. Shit. Don’t shrug. She winced again.

 

Clarke noticed and looked guilty. “You’re all stiff now,” she said. “Why didn’t you pull the couch out?”

 

Lexa sighed and rubbed her neck in attempt to work out some of the kinks. “I think it’s broken,” she said. “It wouldn’t budge last night and I didn’t want to wake you making too much noise.”

 

“You could have just taken the other side of the bed,” Clarke said, indicating the side that was reasonably unmused. “I wouldn’t have minded and you wouldn’t be in a world of pain.”

 

“It’s fine,” Lexa said, barely managing to not shrug again. “Nothing a hot shower and some breakfast won’t fix.”

 

She was wrong about that, but she tried not to let it on to Clarke. They ate breakfast as they watched the storm continue to rage outside.

 

“How much longer will it last?” Clarke asked, sounding concerned as she pulled back the curtain to peer out the window into the dreary darkness. Despite it being well past sunrise, little sunlight was able to penetrate the dark clouds of Nia. 

 

“A few hours,” Lexa replied. “Once she hit land, she slowed down, but she’s also getting weaker. You can already see that the wind isn’t nearly as strong as last night.”

 

Clarke nodded. “And the rain?”

 

“That’ll last a bit longer,” Lexa said. “The main concern now besides the power going out is flooding. But we’re far enough inland that we’ll be okay here. It’s more the marshlands south of here that gets the flooding damage.”

 

“What about the airport? How long until they schedule flights again?”

 

Lexa gave Clarke an empathetic look. “Too soon to tell. Sometimes they’re fine and resume operations as normal as soon as the storm passes. Sometimes they have some flooding issues and it takes a day or two.” She decided to not tell Clarke about the one time where the airport was shut down for nearly a week after Hurricane Sandy had done so much flood damage that it took that long just to clear the water. She herself had ended up just renting a car and driving back to Polis rather than hanging around and waiting for a flight. 

 

She watched Clarke’s face carefully, noting that she tried to put up a strong front. But Lexa could see the pain behind the tired eyes, and she found herself oddly wanting to reassure and comfort the virtual stranger. She’d been exhausted and in take charge mode the previous night, needing to get things in order back home and make sure Anya could handle things in her unplanned absence. But even so, she’d taken notice of how attractive Clarke was, even soaking wet from the storm. She was a lesbian, afterall. Of course she would notice that her new roommate was attractive! 

 

No, no, no. No more straight girl crushes! 

 

Lexa shook her head to clear it and announced that she was going to locate the hotel’s gym. Maybe a hard workout would help soothe her sore muscles and clear her head. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Clarke took in the information from Lexa about the likelihood that she’d be stranded for several more days and considered her current predicament. She sighed. At least she had a warm, safe place to stay for the time being. Otherwise she’d be stranded at the airport with thousands of others. She glanced at the woman who’d so generously offered her room and chewed her lower lip. The previous evening, she’d been so exhausted, distraught, and anxiety-ridden, not to mention still seething in anger at her now-ex, that she’d barely had the brain power to really take in Lexa. She was gorgeous in an effortless way, even with her hair in a messy bun and her face completely void of any trace of makeup. Her skin was flawless, her eyes a green that Clarke had never seen before. She’d briefly wondered if they were contacts until Lexa had slid a pair of glasses on her nose. She was all long limbs and toned muscles, and Clarke found herself wondering if her abs were just as solid as her upper arms appeared beneath the fitted t-shirt. 

 

When Lexa announced that she was going to hit the hotel’s gym to get a workout in and she walked out of the bathroom in black lycra leggings and a tight workout top that left a portion of that very abdomen bare, Clarke swallowed. Damn. Her roommate was a complete goddess of a woman, and she was newly single after a nearly five month dry spell.

 

_ Cool it,  _ she told herself as she bid Lexa a nice workout. As soon as the door closed behind her, Clarke was out of her chair and rushing into the bathroom. She needed a cold shower. Badly.

 

She stepped under the cool spray and shivered. But she didn’t change the temperature of the water for fear that she’d have to resort to more drastic measures like touching herself in the shower as she fantasized about a woman she’d met only hours before and would be spending god knows how long stuck in the same hotel room with for god knows how long. Talk about awkward!

 

The cool water did a lot to calm her libido. At least for now. She turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing her towel from the night before. She dried off and made a sudden realization. She’d forgotten to grab clean clothes.

 

She sighed. At least it had only been about ten minutes and Lexa was probably still down in the gym. She wrapped the towel around herself and quickly opened the door to run out and get some clothes. 

 

But of course as luck would have it, Lexa was not, in fact, still down in the gym. Nope. She was standing just inside the door, earbuds in her ears, eyes wide as she saw Clarke in just the tiny hotel towel.

 

“Shit!” Clarke cried out, startled. She jumped and immediately gripped the towel tighter around her chest. “Fuck, I thought you’d still be downstairs.”

 

Lexa started, still wide-eyed, for a second before she quickly averted her gaze and looked up at the ceiling. She pulled out her earbuds and cleared her throat. “I, ah, I’m sorry. I started, but was just too sore,” she explained, face red.

 

Clarke immediately felt the guilt creep back in. “Right, sorry,” she said.

 

Lexa shook her head. “Not your fault,” she said. “Why are you in just a towel, though?”

 

Clarke turned red this time. “Forgot to grab a change of clothes,” she said. Then she moved towards her bag where it sat on the dresser and pulled out a pair of clean underwear, bra, shirt, and jeans. “I’ll be right out.” Then she disappeared back into the bathroom. 

  
  
  
  


Lexa let out a long breath. Damn. That towel had  _ not _ left much to the imagination. She’d known Clarke was stacked before, but  _ damn _ . She wasn’t in the habit of objectifying women, but she was a woman who loved women. And it had been over a  _ year _ since she’d last had any kind of sexual encounter other than her own hand. And even that had been far and few between.

 

Make no mistake, Clarke Griffin was fucking gorgeous and she was in deep trouble.

 

“I could give you a massage,” Clarke’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. She was still standing in front of the door and Clarke was looking at her curiously, thankfully fully dressed now.

 

“What?” Lexa asked, sure she’d heard her wrong.

 

“A massage,” Clarke repeated. “For your stiff muscles. My best friend is a massage therapist in Arkadia and taught me a few things. It’s my fault you’re so stiff anyway. It’s the least I can do.”

 

Lexa shook her head. No way would she be able to handle Clarke’s hands all over her like that, even if it were for an innocent massage. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I just need a hot soak and some vitamin D.” When Clarke didn’t look convinced, she added, “I have a thing about strangers touching me.” It was true. She did hate strangers touching her, but she somehow didn’t think that would be a problem with Clarke. “But thank you.”

 

Clarke shrugged. “Let me know if you change your mind,” she said.

 

Half an hour later, Lexa was seriously reconsidering Clarke’s offer of a massage as she exited the bathroom, still stiff and in pain. Her bath hadn’t done anything but stress how sore her shoulders were, and she found herself contemplating making use of the hotel’s heated spa that she knew was attached to the indoor pool. She eyed Clarke carefully, who was currently sitting on the bed and talking into her phone. Lexa tried not to listen in on the conversation, but it wasn’t like she had any other option. “Sorry,” she mouthed to the blonde, but Clarke waved her hand to say it was okay.

 

“I’m sure,” Clarke said into the phone. “I’ll be fine.”

 

Lexa grabbed an orange juice from the mini-fridge and hoped the vitamin d would help.

 

“Seriously, Mom, I’ll be fine,” Clarke said again. “I know, I wanted to murder him, too, but it’s over. If I’m completely honest, it has been for a long time. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

 

Lexa sat on the couch and pulled out her own phone to check her email and reply to Anya’s texts.

 

Clarke sighed into her phone. “Can we talk about this later? I’m not exactly alone right now.”

 

Lexa kept her eyes on the screen of her phone without really reading the email she’d pulled up. 

 

“Right, okay,” Clarke said. “I’ll call you when I figure out when I’ll be able to get home.” A pause. “I will. Love you, too. Bye.” She ended the call and gave Lexa a sheepish look. “Sorry about that,” she said. “My mother is worried about me.” She left out the part that her worry was more related to her current personal life than her physical whereabouts. Her mother knew she could handle that part. The personal life, however? That was a trickier one.

 

Lexa nodded in understanding. “No worries,” she said. “My mother has been texting me like crazy since I told her I’d be stuck here.”

 

Clarke smiled and plugged her phone into her charger. “I was thinking earlier about how kind you’ve been, and I don’t think I ever said thank you yesterday.” She gave Lexa a small smile. “I was kind of a mess, so I’m sorry about that.”

 

Lexa shook her head. “No need to apologize,” she said. She really wanted to ask about what had Clarke so thrown off the day prior. She had a feeling it was much more than the storm that had her all discombobulated. “And as I said, it’s not a problem, I told you. My company will pay for it all.”

 

Clarke hummed. “Yeah, but I’m still encroaching on your space. If it weren’t for me, you could have this place all to yourself. I know it can be an inconvenience when you just want to be alone but have no other choice. If you ever need me to fuck off for an hour or two, just let me know. I can just hit the indoor pool or something.”

 

Lexa tilted her head in confusion. “Why would I want you to fuck off?”

 

Clarke shrugged. “I kind of get the vibe that you’re a pretty private person most of the time.”

 

She wasn’t wrong. Lexa bit her lower lip, then sighed. “Normally, yes, but you don’t bother me,” she said honestly.

 

Clarke looked unconvinced. “Yet,” she said. And the sound of her voice, the pain she tried but failed to mask, sent a jolt through Lexa.

 

“Clarke, are you sure you’re okay?” Lexa asked, standing and moving to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. There was still a respectable amount of distance between them, but it was closer than she’d normally sit voluntarily to someone she didn’t really know. 

 

She knew she was walking a dangerous path, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

 

If Clarke noticed the nearness, she didn’t acknowledge it. “I’ll be fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “Like I said, it’s just been a rough few days and I just want to be at home so I can lick my wounds and move on from it all.”

 

Lexa nodded slowly. “Okay. But I wasn’t kidding. I don’t want you to make yourself scarce. I quite enjoy your company.” Oh. Whoops. She probably shouldn’t have said that.

 

“You do?” Clarke asked, looking surprised.

 

Lexa nodded. It was too late to take it back, anyway. “Sure. Otherwise I’d be here all by myself and bored out of my mind. Especially if the power goes out.”

 

“You think it will?” Clarke asked, looking out the window. 

 

“Honestly? Probably,” she said. “The wind is dying down, but it’s still strong enough to mess with power lines or knock down trees, particularly now that the ground is so saturated with water. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t go out at some point.”

 

Sure enough, it wasn’t even an hour later that the lights flickered a few times, then completely went out.

 

“Well, at least my phone got charged,” Clarke said with a sigh as the TV they’d been watching was now just a black screen.

 

“And there’s still several hours of daylight,” Lexa pointed out. “They probably won’t be able to restore it until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. And that’s being optimistic.”

 

“So we’re in the dark tonight?”

 

“Looks like it,” Lexa responded. She was suddenly glad for her obsession with that cute little candle shop down the road, and that she’d stocked up on handmade candles to take home before the storm hit. She sighed and sat up on the bed, groaning slightly when her muscles protested.

 

“Still sore?” Clarke asked from her laid back position on the other side of the bed.

 

Lexa nodded as she tried to stretch her back. “I will sleep on the floor before I sleep on that thing again,” she muttered.

 

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Dude, it’s a king sized bed. I think we can both fit.”

 

Lexa looked at her wearily. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said before she could stop herself.

 

“Why not?” Clarke asked.

 

Lexa panicked. “Uh, I, ah, move a lot in my sleep. And kick. I’d hate to give you bruises on top of everything else.” Nice save.

 

Clarke scoffed. “Oh, whatever,” she said. “I’m not made of glass. I’ll survive.”

 

Lexa changed the topic. “Tell me about your art?” She watched Clarke’s face light up as she talked about her work and her favorite pieces. Then she showed Lexa pictures on her phone of some of her finished pieces and Lexa was in awe. “You did this?” she asked as she stared at an incredibly lifelike landscape.

 

Clarke nodded. “Landscapes are my favorite, but I also enjoy doing portraits. Sketches, mostly.” She gave Lexa a curious look. “Actually, and I don’t mean this in a pervy way, but you have a dream face for a sketch artist. Well, a dream everything, really.”

 

Lexa was caught off guard. “Excuse me?” she asked, confused.

 

Clarke shrugged. “Your face is angular and full of mystery,” she explained. “And, excuse me for noticing, but I’m an artist and we tend to notice things like this, but you have a killer physique. An artists’ dream, really. Have you ever posed for an artist before?”

 

Lexa flushed red. “Like, take all my clothes off and sit in a room of people as they scrutinize every inch of me? ‘Draw me like one of your French girls?’ No way.”

 

Clarke let out a deep laugh. “Posing doesn’t automatically mean nude,” she said. “It can mean a variety of things, including levels of dress. You could pose in what you’re wearing now or a burlap sack, even.”

 

“Oh, right,” Lexa said, cheeks still on fire. “I mean, isn’t that a thing with artists, though? The naked form?”

 

Clarke shrugged. “Some, yeah,” she said. “There’s an inherent beauty in the nude form, particularly women. But that’s just my opinion. Every artist is different, and every artist has their niche when it comes to portraits. Some love nude models, some prefer semi-nude or fully clothed. It’s all a preference.”

 

“And what’s your preference?” Lexa asked, suddenly curious.

 

Clarke grinned. “Okay, yeah, I prefer nude models, or semi-nude. But not explicit. A lot of people immediately equate nudity with sex, but I don’t. I have a portfolio that I plan on using in a show at some point that’s focuses on body positivity. None of the pieces are at all sexual, but rather aimed at being comfortable in one’s own body. It’s been done before, of course, but my spin on it is everyday activities, like cooking or gardening. One of my models did yoga, another was brushing her teeth.”

 

Lexa’s looked contemplative. “Sounds interesting,” she said. “Where do you find these models?”

 

Clarke shrugged. “Some are friends or friends of friends,” she said. “Some are fellow artists who want to help me out. Others I hired. It’s a mixed bag of people.” She grinned. “Why? Are you offering to be a subject?”

 

Lexa’s eyes widened. “What? No!” she rushed out. “No, no, I was just curious. I don’t think could ever… no.” She refused to admit that the reason why she’d never pose nude for Clarke, beyond the awkwardness, was her attraction to the blonde. As soon as her clothing would come off, her arousal would be quite evident. No way.

 

Clarke laughed. “Chill, Lexa,” she said. “I was kidding. Besides, I don’t have my supplies other than a small sketchbook and my travel case of pencils.”

 

Lexa had to focus on getting her heart rate back to normal. She made an excuse of needing to pee and quickly escaped to the bathroom. She closed the door and was promptly reminded that the power was out. She cursed and had to rely on the small amount of daylight streaming in from the bottom gap of the door, which was already dim due to the dark clouds of the storm, to take care of business and wash her hands.

 

When she returned to the room, Clarke had laid back against the pillows on the bed and was looking at her phone. “Apparently power is out for most of Polis,” she informed Lexa with a disgruntled look. “They aren’t expecting to be able to restore it until sometime the day after tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.” She sighed and dropped the phone to her stomach. “I’m so glad I already took vacation time and don’t have to worry about work.”

 

Lexa sat on the other side of the king sized bed, as close to the edge as she could without risking falling off. “I’m not surprised,” she said. “They aren’t the most efficient here.”

 

Clarke snorted. “No kidding,” she said. “I’m sorry I keep complaining about being stuck here. I promise it’s not  _ you _ that I’m complaining about.”

 

Lexa nodded. “I know,” she said. “And I get it. I obviously don’t know what happened, but I can tell it was something bad. Being stuck in an unfamiliar city with a complete stranger during a massive storm is enough to make anyone cranky.”

 

Clarke looked at Lexa carefully. “Well, sure, but honestly, having you here helps.”

 

Lexa looked surprised. “It does?”

 

Clarke nodded. “Sure. I can distract myself with conversation rather than dwell on the bad things and wallow in self pity.”

 

Lexa immediately understood. “I can see that,” she said. “It would be even worse if you were alone in a room or stuck at the airport.”

 

“Exactly,” Clarke said. “And I suppose you’re not the  _ worst _ company to have.” She smiled.

 

Lexa chuckled. “A lot of people would disagree with you on that,” she muttered. She hadn’t really meant to say it aloud, but of course Clarke hear her.

 

“Really?” Clarke asked, surprised. “Why is that?”

 

Lexa sighed. She didn’t really want to get into this topic since it would require her to reveal her true position as co-owner of Trikru Financial. She shrugged instead. “I oversee a lot of people and I’m not about making friends at the office,” she said simply. Again, not a lie.

 

Clarke narrowed her eyes like she didn’t fully believe her, but decided to let it go. “All work and no play, huh?”

 

Lexa sighed. She wanted to dispute Clarke’s words, but she really couldn’t. She shrugged instead. “I have my moments.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” Clarke said. “When was the last time you really let loose? Went out with friends or did something fun just for the hell of it?”

 

Lexa snorted. “Who has the time?” she muttered.

 

“You have to make time,” Clarke said. “Work-life balance and all. Do you expect your subordinates to have no life outside of work?”

 

Lexa shook her head. “Of course not,” she said. “I encourage work-life balance and mental health days all the time.” It was true. She was a huge advocate for her employees’ well-being when it came to physical and mental health.

 

“But you don’t take your own advice?”

 

Lexa flushed a bit. “That’s what happens when you’re high on the chain of command,” she said.

 

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Even Superwoman needs to take time for herself,” she said. “And this is the perfect opportunity.”

 

That reminded Lexa. She reached for her phone on the nightstand. “Actually, I need to have a conference call with the executives about--”

 

“No,” Clarke said, reaching out and snatching Lexa’s phone before she could grab it.

 

“Clarke,” Lexa protested, reaching for the phone in Clarke’s hand.

 

“Ah, ah,” Clarke said. “There’s a freaking hurricane outside, Lexa. I think they’ll understand.”

 

Lexa lunged forward again, but Clarke deflected her. “Clarke, the business world doesn’t stop for a hurricane,” she said, exasperated. “I have deals that need to be made.”

 

“And no one can handle those for you in your absence?”

 

Lexa glared, not wanting to admit that Clarke was right. Anya and Indra were more than capable of running things while she was stuck, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t oversee things, figuratively, from afar. “Clarke, I’m serious,” she said. “Give me my phone.”

 

Clarke sighed, seeing how annoyed the other woman was becoming. “Okay, fine, but on one condition.”

 

“You’re blackmailing me?”

 

“Yes,” Clarke said simply.

 

Lexa raised an eyebrow and waited.

 

“You let me try and massage out some of those knots in your back,” Clarke said.

 

Lexa blinked. “What?”

 

“I can tell you’re in pain, even though you’re trying to hide it. You’re not that good of an actress, you know. And it’s my fault you had to sleep on that tiny ass couch. God, how did you even fit on that thing?”

 

Lexa winced at the memory. “Very carefully,” she muttered. “But really, it’s fine. Nothing I haven’t felt before.”

 

Clarke rolled her eyes. “No massage, no phone.”

 

Lexa huffed. “What do you get out of this, anyway?”

 

_ My hands all over you, _ Clarke thought to herself, but she barely managed to not say them aloud. “My guilt at being the reason you’re so sore will be asauged.” She waved the phone in the air. “So, what do you say? Phone or no phone?”

 

Lexa sighed. She had to admit, the thought of Clarke’s hands on her sore muscles  _ was _ rather appealing. And she began to wonder if Clarke had ulterior motives, as well. She sure was persistent, and she’d thought she’d caught her staring more than a few times. “Can I have my phone back, now?” she asked, hand held out.

 

“Only if you say yes to my massage.”

 

Lexa grumbled, still fighting her pride. “Fine,” she said. “After I make my calls.”

 

Clarke narrowed her eyes, but nodded. “Deal.” She handed the phone back. “Make your calls and then you’re mine.” She didn’t mean it like that, but that’s how it came out. And she made no attempt to correct herself. She stared at Lexa instead.

 

Lexa stood, trying (and failing) to hide her flustered state at Clarke’s words, and nodded. “Fine,” she said. “I’m going to do this down in the business center so I can see if they have an internet connection.” Really, though, it was so that Clarke didn’t overhear anything that would allow her to realize just how high up in the company Lexa was. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Clarke, but, well, she didn’t  _ know _ her at all. Not really. And it was her modus operandi to just not allow new people that she met to know of her position of authority in the successful company. She’d experienced too many people pretending to want to get to know her, both on a friendly and romantic level, just to get her money. Once was enough to make her overly cautious. So Clarke wouldn’t become privy to that information during their time as temporary roommates.  

 

Clarke looked around the dim room. “The power is out,” she reminded Lexa.

 

Lexa looked surprised. “Oh, right,” she said. “Well, then so that I don’t annoy you with business talk.” She didn’t give Clarke a chance to protest before she was out the door and quickly making her way to the stairwell. As soon as the heavy door slammed shut behind her, she sunk back against the wall and let out a shaky breath. Before, she’d been convinced that she’d been imaging it, or that Clarke Griffin was simply a bonafide flirt. But now? Now she was certain she wasn’t imaging anything, and she was certain that Clarke knew exactly what she was doing. 

 

She was definitely flirting, and she was definitely aware of it. 

 

Crap. 

  
  
  
  
  


Back in the room, Clarke blinked at Lexa’s abrupt departure.

 

Lexa Woods was proving to be quite the conundrum.

 

Clarke wasn’t so narcissistic as to think that everyone would be attracted to her, but was almost certain Lexa felt the attraction. At least, she hoped so. She didn’t even have confirmation that Lexa was gay or into women at all. Except for the way she’d checked Clarke out when she’d been standing in just a towel. Clarke could tell she’d tried to not stare, but even she had to admit that the towel had been  _ awfully  _ small and didn’t do a very good job at covering her up. And her boobs had practically been on fully display. From Lexa’s reaction and the flush that had crept up her neck and cheeks, Lexa Woods was not only into women, but she was a boob girl and definitely interested in her.

 

But Clarke also didn’t exactly have the best judgement considering her newly-dissolved relationship. 

 

And that was another thing. She was newly single. The last thing she should be focused on was her attraction to someone else. A stranger. Someone whose name was pretty much the only thing she knew about her. 

 

Only, that wasn’t entire true. She knew that Lexa was kind and saved her from a miserable end to her already miserable trip. She knew that Lexa was stoic, but her massive walls were already beginning to crumble around Clarke. And while she didn’t know it for certain, Clarke was relatively confident Lexa’s walls didn’t crumble for hardly anyone no matter how long or how well they knew her. 

 

So why was she different?

 

And why did Clarke care? She’d just ended a long term relationship, for god’s sake! And she wasn’t the rebound hookup kind of girl. (Not since her college days, at least.) She definitely didn’t want a rebound fling with Lexa. 

 

What she wanted was more. 

 

Which was so fucking stupid. She’d just met her not even twenty-four hours after catching her boyfriend cheating on her! 

 

Though, to be fair, had Clarke been completely honest with herself, the relationship had been over for some time. They were only still together because neither of them had been the one to do the dirty work of actually breaking up. It didn’t make Finn’s shaking up with another woman any easier to digest, but the fact was that she was really only hurt by the fact that he had kept it from her for so long, but the actual end of their relationship barely registered on her hurt-o-meter. Two out of ten, at most. 

 

So, really, Lexa would definitely not be a rebound. But that didn’t make her any less mysterious. 

 

Clarke sighed and reached for her phone, deciding to play detective. She opened a new browser window and typed in ‘Alexandria Woods’ into the search bar, then hit enter. But nothing happened. Then she noticed the no signal icon in the top left of her screen. Fuck. The cell phone towers must be out due to the storm. She wondered if Lexa would make the same discovery and return soon or if she’d just use a landline phone.

 

She didn’t have to wait long. Lexa returned shortly, an annoyed look on her face.

 

“No signal?” Clarke guessed.

 

Lexa nodded and tossed her phone onto the nightstand. “I tried a landline, but the connection was too staticy to hold a conversation.” She sat heavily on the side of the bed and picked up the hotel room phone to test it out. She punched in the memorized number and waited. When there was an answer on the other end, static filled her ear along with Anya’s broken speech. “Anya, can you hear me?”

 

“A little bit,” came a woman’s--obviously the named Anya’s--static-filled reply. “But we can survive without you for a few days, Commander.” It was a bit better than the phone in the business center. At least she could somewhat make out what Anya was saying.

 

Lexa rolled her eyes at the nickname. “Just don’t let Roan anywhere near the Third Quarter Report,” she instructed.

 

“No shit,” Anya said. “I do know how to do my job, Lex.”

 

Lexa sighed. “I know,” she said. “I don’t have cell service, so I’ll be in touch when I can.”

 

“Take your time,” Anya said. “Maybe have some fun. Let your hair down. Find a girl to hit and quit. Maybe that’ll get your panties out of the bunch they’ve been in the last few months. When I told you to snap out of it, I didn’t mean turn into a robot, you know.”

 

_ Oh _ , Clarke thought to herself.  _ That definitely confirms my suspicions.  _ Lexa Woods was not only gay, but a sexually frustrated gay woman. 

 

Lexa gave an exasperated sound. “Oh, fuck off, Anya,” she spat out, but she also had a soft lilt to her voice that told Clarke she wasn’t actually mad. 

 

Anya just laughed on the other end of the line. “Just relax; we’ve got it all covered. Indra and I are taking your meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow and we’ll divy up the following days if we need to. Trust us.”

 

Lexa sighed. “I do,” she said. “I’m just--”

 

“A control freak, I know,” Anya finished. “Go. Relax. Have fun. Find someone to--”

 

“Anya,” Lexa warned.

 

“Killjoy,” Anya sighed.

 

Lexa said her goodbyes with the promise to keep Anya updated on when she’d be able to get a flight out of Polis.

 

“I feel it only fair to let you know that I could hear that entire conversation,” Clarke said as she hung up.

 

Lexa glanced back at Clarke who had a wide grin on her face. She knit her brow. “Okay?” 

 

Clarke nodded. “ _ Both _ sides,” she clarified. “The volume on that thing is pretty loud.”

 

Oh. Oh! Lexa felt her cheeks flush. “O-oh,” she stuttered. “You mean--”

 

“Yep,” Clarke said. “See, even… Anya, was it?” Lexa nodded. “Even Anya knows that you need to have a little fun.”

 

“Anya is a pain in my ass,” Lexa countered. “We’ve known one another since the first year of college.”

 

“Even pains in the ass can be right,” she said. “Hell, my best friend is a pain in my ass all the time and she was right about Finn.” Oops. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

 

“Finn?” Lexa repeated.

 

Clarke sighed. “The now-ex,” she clarified. “I flew to DC to surprise him. He’s doing a two-year internship there and it’s been rough on our relationship. But when I showed up at his apartment…” she trailed off, swallowing against the hurt.

 

“Let me guess,” Lexa jumped in. “He was cheating?”

 

Clarke nodded, hugging her knees up to her chest. “Thank god I didn’t walk in on them actually having sex, but it was obvious he was cheating. And it was obvious that it wasn’t just a one time thing. She practically lived there. She didn’t even know about me. There were no pictures and no indication that I existed or anything. Just… nothing.” She leaned back against the couch. “I mean, we hadn’t been doing well for a while. This trip was kind of a last-ditch effort to keep us together, but apparently he’d already moved on and forgot to tell me. He actually got mad at  _ me _ for not calling beforehand. Like he wasn’t two-timing me  _ and _ this other girl for god knows how long.”

 

Once she’d started, the words just kept falling out until she’d spilled nearly everything. And she couldn’t stop.

 

“We were together for four years,” she continued. “And I loved him. I did. And I know now that it was never going to work out in the long run. We’re too different. But it still hurts, even though I realize now that I didn’t love him anymore. Not in the same way. You know? It still hurts that he didn’t care enough to at least end it before moving on to someone else.”

 

Lexa was unsure how to respond to Clarke’s obvious distress, tears shining in her blue eyes. She wasn’t a touchy-feely person, and she was never good at dealing with tears. They usually made her want to make an excuse and run. But Clarke’s tears made her want to comfort. She wanted nothing more than to offer her shoulder to cry on and a warm embrace. Which was odd for her. What was happening?

 

She moved around the bed to sit on the edge beside Clarke and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know it probably doesn’t help at all, but he’s a fool,” she said. “I’ve know you less than a day and I can already see how great of a catch you are. I can’t believe anyone would let you get away.”

 

Clarke sniffled and offered her a small smile. “I’m not even that upset that it’s over between us,” she admitted. “It’s just how it went down. How he could just replace me so easily and pretend I don’t exist.”

 

“Again,” Lexa said, squeezing her shoulder beneath her hand. “He’s a fool.”

 

Clarke took a deep breath and wiped her cheeks. “Even so, I’m actually kind of relieved that it’s over. It was a shitty way to be dumped, but now I don’t have to worry about making things work with him.” Suddenly, she sat up straight and shook her head to clear it. “You know what I need right now?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“A distraction,” Clarke said. “Take off your shirt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, and if you enjoyed it, drop me follow over on tumblr @[thesestarryskies](https://thesestarryskies.tumblr.com) ♡

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think! I welcome all comments, so long as any criticism is constructive and respectful. :) 
> 
> You can also find me on Tumblr @[thesestarryskies](https://thesestarryskies.tumblr.com/).


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